My top 10 movies featuring time travel

New League assignment this week. We apparently were off last week, but Brian has thrown a very good subject for this week. He wants us to create a list of 10 favorite movies. We can pick the category. There are so many ways to slice-and-dice a list of 10 movies. It took me a while to really think about it but I think I came up with an appropriate angle for me.

If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know I’m an aficionado of time travel in pop culture. Some say I would be an “Internet authority” on said topic (I won’t argue that). I see the movies and TV shows, I read the books. I study it. I enjoy it. Check out the numerous time travel articles I’ve written on this blog as well as Episode 3 of the Nerd Lunch podcast in which we discussed time travel (and our third most downloaded episode, btw). You can see I have something invested in this subject. So, I thought I’d list out my 10 favorite movies that feature time travel.

I realize there are going to be ones you’ll want on, but I’m giving you my list of favorite time travel movies. I’ll also include some honorable mentions at the bottom.

So, let’s get started going back…..to the future….and past. Whatever. Oh, and I don’t normally do this, but I’m actually ranking these 10 – 1. Much like time itself, the order matters.

(Via jovisala47)10. Galaxy Quest – Time travel is really only used in this movie as a small plot device at the very end, but it’s used very well. The Omega 13 is a nebulous and strange device, but it worked and both spoofed the original Star Trek’s version of time travel as well as created a fun version of time travel for the movie. Plus, I love the s**t out of this movie. The perfect spoof of classic Star Trek while simultaneously being a really good stand along sci-fi movie.(Via Harry Potter Wikia)9. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – This is another kind of a cheat. The movie doesn’t feature time travel, but uses it as a plot device towards the end. However, it’s used very well and the Time Turner itself is a fascinating little gadget. This third movie in the HP franchise is so good and having time travel at the end and also realizing Hermione has been using it from the beginning of the story, just makes it that much better.

(Via best-horror-movies.com)8. Time Crimes – This is a pretty great little suspense movie that has a plot that not only features time travel, but revolves around it. It gets a little crazy at the end, and a little confusing as well, but I really enjoy the hell out of this movie. It’s about a guy named Hector who stumbles upon a time machine and gets himself into several hairy situations when he’s sent back 30min into the past.

(Via movieslist2010)7. Groundhog Day – Not generally thought of by people as a time travel movie, but it is. Murray is trapped in what we call a “time loop” and has to live the last 24 hours over and over and over. Such a great movie even if the “time loop” is never really explained.

(Via just plain doug)6. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure – EXCELLENT! I really do like this movie. It’s silly and dumb and makes little sense but it is so much fun. I actually welcome a Bill & Ted 3 if it ever comes about (even though I like Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, it’s not one of my favorites).

(Via ~Lore)5. Deja Vu – This movie sort of snuck up on me like Time Crimes. I watched it, but really had no idea what it was about. And I hate to put this here, because it spoils a small part of the plot you don’t actually know at first. However, this is a very solid time travel movie and I highly recommend it.

(Via grnknight)4. Star Trek (2009) – I know this movie gets a lot of s**t for continuity. CT isn’t a fan of this movie because of that. However, being a fan of the Star Wars Expanded Universe and the DC Universe, you come to realize that while continuity is great, you can’t really rely on the creative people to protect it. The overseers of the continuity care less about it than the fans of the property. Are there problems with the timeline of this movie as it pertains to the original Trek? Yes, of course there are. But I love the hell out of this movie anyway. I DON’T CARE IF SPOCK PRIME AND KIRK MEETING ON THE FROZEN PLANET AND THEN ALSO MEETING SCOTTY ON SAME PLANET IS A HUGE IMPROBABLE COINCIDENCE (which, when I write that down, really sounds stupid). They tried to tie it in and I appreciate that. They did about as good a job as the original movies did. Screw nit picking, this movie is bad ass. It gets the characters right. It gets the feeling of the universe right. The end result works and I highly look forward to Star Trek 2 (which hopefully won’t feature time travel). For me, the biggest offense this movie made was to make Tyler Perry head of Starfleet.

3. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home – Probably the most mainstream, comedic movie of the original series. Maybe even the entire movie series (excluding the reboot). The original crew utilizes the slingshot maneuver around the sun to go back to 1986 to save some humpback whales so they can return with them to the future to talk to an alien space probe that is about to destroy Earth. If it sounds completely ridiculous, well, it is, but this movie is not only fun it’s incredibly funny. And that’s why it makes it in here at #3.

(Via evpl)2. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (T1) – This is my favorite Terminator movie. I enjoy the first one, I don’t really ever think about the third one…or the fourth one really. I’ll include the first Terminator here too, but I’m really talking about T2. Such a great movie. What else is there to say. And it still holds up.

1. Back to the Future (BTTF 2/3) – And this should come as no surprise to anyone that has read this blog for 5 minutes. Like T2, I’m really talking about the first movie, but I’m going to peripherally include the entire series.

Honorable mentions:

Hot Tub Time Machine – I love everything about this movie. It’s silly and fun and crazy. And kinda dumb. But it’s supposed to be.Time Bandits – I honestly go back and forth on this movie. Some days I love it, some days I don’t.Freejack – I saw this in the theater and I’ve loved it ever since. It probably has something to do with my man crush on Emilio Estevez. And I realize the movie is not great and Mick Jagger is f**king terrible, but I still really enjoy watching this movie.Forbidden Kingdom – First team up with Jackie Chan and Jet Li. The lead kid isn’t my favorite, but this is a really fun and visually awesome movie.

223 Responses to “My top 10 movies featuring time travel”

Great list pax! I liked seeing Deja Vu up there–Denzel Washington makes everything better.
Do you consider the original Planet of the Apes as a time travel movie? it’s not like they’re bouncing back and forth in time, but the “shocking twist” revealed at the end is a result of their leaping ahead a few light years in outer space.

I would definitely count Apes as time travel, and I’d certainly replace it with about 7 of these movies. Also I’d even include the remake of The Time Machine with Guy Pearce. Sure, it goes off the tracks a bit in the end, but the time travel element was pretty awesome.

You know what, Brian, I honestly would consider Planet of the Apes a time travel movie, however, to be honest, and I’m ashamed to say this, I haven’t seen the movie all the way through. I’ve seen the first 20 minutes and some of the end, but that’s it. And I’ve never seen any of the sequels. So, I didn’t include it.

I’ve tried to watch it for years, but my wife has no interest in watching it and fitting in time to watch it has been tough. I had it on my DVR for like 6 months before I finally deleted it.

So, I feel like you now when you admitted you hadn’t watched Star Trek.

Cue sad trombone. I think a lot of people just can’t get by the “that’s a man in a monkey suit” and miss out on some great movies. My wife is the same way, which is why I have my own cave for viewing all the monkey movies I can cram into a weekend. (She doesn’t even like Clyde! Who is this woman?!)

12 Monkeys has always been one of my favorite time travel movies. Too many movies like to mix different time travel theories that obviously don’t work together. As far as I can tell, 12 Monkeys sticks to one the entire time. Donnie Darko is another amazing one. Though I guess it isn’t completely related to time travel.

Time Crimes sounds interesting. I have not seen that one, but I will definitely check it out.

I listed MY favorite top 10, not the definitive top 10. Unfortunately, I don’t particularly like Donnie Darko. It’s obtuse and confusing without really the need to be. And which Time Machine did you mean? The 1960s George Pal one is not great, and the Guy Pearce one is good for about the first 2/3, but then completely falls apart.

I think Donnie Darko was great.. by itself.. there’s a sequel called S. Darko about his sister, but if that’s how you felt about the first one, definitely don’t watch it. As for Time Machine.. the 1960’s one is awesome and so much better than the new one.

It’s low budget, but good, disturbing and hilariously funny. It takes the effects of time travel all the way and manages to exploit an awful lot of possible effects. I’d say it’s the best in the genre.

Yep, glad you (and several others brought it up). Primer and 12 Monkeys are two of my favorite movies of all time, and they both feature time travel. Since Paxton didn’t like either of them, they didn’t make the list, but they did get us thinking about our own favorites. That’s what makes an excellent blog post! Thanks, Pax!

Good stuff, I’m definitely going to check some of these out. Oh and I can’t believe anyone else has heard of Time Bandits.. I love that movie.. everyday! I loved it when I first saw it as a kid, and even more when I watched it again as an adult. It’s totally whacky, funny, and has a really cool premise.. and having Sean Connery and John Cleese is a plus too. I would recommend it to everyone!

Great List, But hears mine in no certain order. 1. Ground Day 2. Time after Time. 3. Time Machine (1960s version) 3. Donnie Darko 4. Devils Advocate 5. Time Cop 6. Prince of Persia Sands of Time. 7. Flight of the Naviagtor by Disney 8. Army of Darkness 9. 13 going on 30. 10. Star Trek most recent….there ya go….what do you think of that list?

This may or may not be up your alley, but it is a time travel movie and personally it’s one of my favorites. Primer. It’s a little dry, but it’s short. And its brevity is a good thing, because it WILL require multiple viewings. This is the only movie that I would ever claim needs to be seen more than once.

Yes! I am another lurker looking to see if Primer had come up – CofA if you are a time travel movie aficionado you MUST have an opinion on this movie – what do you think? I have seen it three times now and will go back for more (as soon as I find a fourth person up for it!). It’s such an achievement, I wonder if the guy has done anything else…

P.S – have you ever seen William Devane starring in the low-budget Time Stalkers? Fab stuff. And Cheryl Ladd in Millenium? What about Kirk douglas in The Final Countdown. and there’s always The Philadelphia Experiment. Time travel: Can’t get enough of it.

Somewhere in time should be #1 on this or any other list dealing with time travel movies. Before anyone demands my man card, let me explain:

Yes, it is a sappy, romantic chick flick. HOWEVER, it’s a chick flick with serious brain food for time travel afficionados or any guy with a brain, really. That makes it a perfect movie to watch with your honey. You rack up major good husband/boyfriend points and you don’t want to stab yourself in the neck with a pen while you earn them.

It happens to be the ONLY movie I know of that actually deals with all the implications of time travel. Chiefly, what it gets right that all the others get wrong is that when time travel occurs, then the evidence of it already exists in the future, because… well… it already happened, right? So you get these delicious questions and paradoxes, like:
-Where did the watch come from? He gave it to her in the past and she gave it to him in the future. Perhaps a better question is: Where did the watch go?
-How did she know that he time travelled to meet her? This is left unanswered by the film, but they leave you the clue to figure it out, if you are curious. The answer is Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Rachmaninoff was a contemporary of 1912 and had achieved widespread popularity with his 2nd Piano Concerto, but he did not compose the Rhapsody until the 1930s. When Richard hummed the tune on the rowboat and identified the composer as Rachmaninoff, he planted the seed of her later realization. She knew the composer, but not the piece. How cool is that?

This movie is full of little nuggets like that. Serious attention to detail in this film. Guys, remember when she made you watch The Lake House and you wanted to kill yourself because you couldn’t take the melodrama, rank inconsistencies, and gaping plot holses? This movie is the cure.

This is not bad ass but “It’s A Wonderful Life” and “A Christmas Carol” are two of my favorites. I’m looking for something meaningful, like “Groundhog Day.” You really want Bill to end up with Andie, no matter how many Groundhog Days it will take.

You missed two of my favorites, but they fall into the “sap” category. “Somewhere In Time” with Christopher Reeve and “Time After Time” where Malcom McDowell as HG Wells travels to 1980’s San Francisco to try and capture Jack the Ripper.

Thank you for mentioning “Time After Time,” a personal favorite of mine. Besides Malcom McDowell you’ve got David Warner and Mary Steenburgen, with direction by Nicholas Meyer, who also directed Star Trek IV (on the above list) as well as the classic Wrath of Khan.

There’s one, whose greatness all us Italians acknowledge (“Non ci resta che piangere” with M. Troisi – known to the wider public for “The postman” – and R. Benigni – “Life is beautiful”). About two contemporary lovely idiots sent back to Rinassance time with no previous notice ..
Back to the future 1 just absolutely on top of everything, Doc my hero (I also have a friend that used to resamble him ..).
Maybe “Inception” also in the list, had I understood that I could tell ..

Not to be a smart ass…but we could say every movie ever made in space has had time travel in it….all the characters typically start from one time and end up another at the end of the movie different from other beings on other planets or out in space traveling at different speeds…As a matter of fact I am traveling through time right now and If I run really really fast – I am slowing down time around me just ever so., If I leave earth away from this high mass there is less gravity so time speeds up around me. Depending on the mass your next to and the speed your going your constantly either slowing down or speeding up in time..this could add up .007 seconds (like astronauts in the ISS ) to eons (like the core of black hole) regardin the difference between two points in space…and you can swap those values depending on perspective….yeah I’m a being smart ass

Very much enjoyed reading this – there were a lot of films in there that I’ve seen and a couple that I hadn’t. I’d question the inclusion of ‘Star Trek’ (2009) as necessarily a ‘time travel’ story.. I’d say that ‘Star Trek: First Contact’ (1996) is a much better example of the time-travelling adventures of that show.

The current “Men in Black 3″ is my vote for favourite time travel movie where Agent J (Will Smith) travels to the 60’s to save a young Agent K ‘s life and save the Earth from invasion by killing Boris the Animal. Very plausible plot line for SciFi, funny, action, likeable characters (even the bad guys)…has it all

I’d throw in Donnie Darko (is it really time travel; you decide…), BTTF2 (hoverboards! flying cars!), the first Terminator, Sliding Doors (more parallel dimensions than time travel, I suppose), and of course Flight of the Navigator for an expected use of time travel to make an otherwise simplistic story much more interesting and engaging.

Terrible list, there are other better movies that could have been on there then ones you have mentioned, go and watch 12 Monkeys, Timecop, The Philadelphia Experiment, ButterFly Effect, The Time Machine (1960), Terminator 1 (better example than #2), there’s even Austin Powers that would qualify I guess.

There are lots of movies that qualify. But this is my list and these are the movies I like best.

I don’t like 12 Monkeys. I think all of these movies are better. Have you watched Time Cop recently? It’s terrible. I think T2 is better than T1. The 1960 Time Machine is okay, but not great. Same with Philadelphia Experiment and Butterfly Effect.

And I knew people would mention Primer, but it’s not one of my favorite movies. I agree, it’s a very realistic depiction of time travel, but I just didn’t enjoy the movie. I’m surprised no one has mention The Jacket starring Adrian Brody. Probably because it’s not good.

Groundhog Day is timeless! Who doesn’t love Bill Murray. And of course Back to the Future. My kids are going to watch it and like it… Even when the future in the 2nd movie will be in the past by the time they see it….

Cool list :) I’m happy to say I’ve seen 4 of those, and also saw 1 of the honorable mentions (Forbidden Kingdom) It’s always glad to see Time Travel in a film. My personal favorite film with time travel would be Yugioh 3D Bonds Beyond Time :) My favorite on the list is definitely the Star Trek 2009 film, already seen it 3 times and will be seeing it again in the future

I really do not think the 2009 Star Trek movie, much though it tries, even really captures the feel of what went before. (Especially not with product placement! You know, post-scarcity, possibly post-capitalist society…) And yes, it is very silly and too many coincidences.

If you want a Star Trek movie that does time travel, I’d have picked Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (a.k.a. “the one with the whales”), in which we are made able to have a good laugh at the crew trying to get to grips with 1980s San Francisco.

I love Groundhog Day, and the Back to the Future series (we even found the car parked in our neighborhood not too long ago – I pulled an illegal U-turn to see it)! For the chicks out there, a great time-travel movie is Sliding Doors with Gwyneth Paltrow! LOVE IT!
Great idea to classify them by theme! So fun!

Back to the future easily number 1 but also full of inconsistencies. I’ll just mention one.
Ok Marty played a big part in George and Lorraines life right? Lets all agree that they would never forget him. Lorraine almost kissed him, Marty helped George get the girl and punch out Biff!
So surely when Marty was born and grew up would’nt they think our son looks just like the Marty we knew back in school and then freak out!! Yet this is never mentioned Lorraine and George seem to have amnesia!!

Galaxy Quest and Groundhog Day are two of the funniest movies ever made and would fit on a bunch of other top ten lists. This list reminds us that we haven’t seen Back to the Future in many years. Time to get the old DVDs out and blow off the dust.

I’m also a sucker for time travel movies, and am always on the lookout for one I haven’t seen. I’ve seen all the ones mentioned above except for “Primer” (which I hadn’t heard of) and the new Men in Black III.

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A film called “Looper” comes out this year, but looks sick. You all should check out the trailer. It features Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis. And it’s written and directed by the man who brought us Brothers Bloom and Brick.

I would say, pretty good list. Not going to lie. There are a few that I haven’t seen (mainly just Time Crimes and *coughStarTrek IknowIamalosercough*) but I have seen most and I have to agree. (I have to admit though, BTTF3 is my favorite of that series…)

Some that leap to mind that weren’t on your list: Somewhere in Time (Christopher Reeve!); Time Cop (the Muscles from Brussels, ugh); The One (or is that just alternative universes?); Time After Time (H.G. Wells tracks Jack the Ripper!)

So I totally fipped through the comments so I’m not sure if anyone mentioned it but what about “frequently asked questions about time travel.” Or maybe I was the only one who liked it. That movie should get props for being the best time travel movie with virtually no special effects. BTW I love your list and I’ve seen everything but “Timecrimes,” I’ll look for that.

I know I’m way behind on this, and I’m not gonna read through them all, but wanted to ad one. There’s a great 80’s time travel movie called “The Final Countdown” with Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen. It’s about a modern day US aircraft carrier that gets transported back to just before Pearl Harbor.

Now I’m in trouble. Going to get my nerd card revoked. Forgot to mention the two 60s Doctor Who movies that starred Peter Cucshing. Little cheesy and somewhat removed from the tv show, but good. And my wife scolded me for not not mentioning one of my favorite Star Trek movies, “First Contact.”